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I'm Matt Miller and I'm Hannah Elliott and this is Hot Pursuit.
And we have a very special guest today who you booked. Thank you very much, the new CEO of Rolls Royce.
I'm excited.
I'm very excited. I'm really excited. I mean, the outgoing CEO, Tryst Mueller Otfest was one of my favorite CEOs, and I mean I drove my first ghost with him ten years ago and he.
Was an iconic class for sure.
Yeah, so it'll be interesting to see how Chris Brownridge is going to follow up in those gigantic footsteps. But also, you are in Zurich.
I'm in I'm reporting live and in living color from Zurich, Switzerland.
Tell us about the car that you're there to drive, can you tell?
Yeah, well, I can't tell you about driving impressions because that's under embargo. But I came to Switzerland to drive the new Bentley Continental GT and that is the V eight hybrid version. It's the first hybrid Continental that they've made. So I spent Saturday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday in onder Mott, which is an hour and a half from Zurich up in the mountains, driving all of those great passes that we've seen in you know, the James Bond movies and
all of those iconic shots. So I was driving that V eight hybrid. It's got about seven hundred and seventy horsepower, give or take two hundred and eight miles. How much horsepower seven and seventy one gps louise urhp PHP. Yeah, so do the conversion. I'm always really bad at the conversion.
But I don't care. It's a gigantic number.
I mean, it's a big stomper and the great thing about it without talking about how it drives yet, because I'm not allowed, you can't tell that it's different from the previous versions. Because the easiest way to tell is the headlights now have this like they're calling it an eyelash. It's like a straight line that goes through the front headlights of it's like a light band, and it does look like an eyelash. It's almost feeline. And I'm a fan.
I think it looks cool. I always like when companies give us something new that we can sort of easily see, oh this is the new thing, and you know, yeah, it's cool. I'm excited. I drove the first edition. There's sort of signature first edition and like colate gray. It's like la a very cool not a darker than a battleship gray, but very cool stort of Matt gray color.
So so just as an aside, it doesn't really matter, but BHP is break horsepower, and in order to convert break horse power to like American horsepower, you have to multiply break horse power by a zero point nine to eight six three. So basically it is ninety eight point sixty three percent. A break horse power is ninety eight point sixty three percent of a regular horse power.
It's like almost one to one, but it's exactly.
So seven hundred and seventy one break horse power is seven hundred and sixty horse power. Obviously, thank you.
Yeah, that's good. Well, I mean this is good. We want to be sure to get our facts correct, so that's great. Zero to sixty is three point one seconds. I can share that, and yeah, the review will be out first week in October.
So the torque number is always for me more exciting because I like twist and in a car like this, because it's not only a big inch V eight but also has an electric component. It probably has massive amounts of torque.
I think, if I'm remembering right, it's seven hundred and thirty eight pound feet of torks, so that that'll do it. Yeah. The other thing that's really interesting about this time right now at Bentley is Bentley also has a new CEO, Frank Wallacer. I think we've talked about this briefly before. Frank was the head of motorsports at Porsche for a long time, so you know they I think, really it's obvious that Bentley is bringing somebody in who can give
a little shot of adrenaline to the brand. You know, someone who's been in motorsport, who's used to developing real sporty, sporty vehicles. So I think hopefully that's what we can expect more of, and.
We can we can talk more about this when Chris gets here. But I've always been fascinated by the relationship between Rolls Royce and Bentley because for a long time they were under the same.
Roof company basically. Yeah, and yeah.
You know, today I saw a guy on Fifth Avenue, some banker type of dude, getting out of a Continental and he I was thinking, oh, that's a sporty your guy then with one with who would drive a Rolls Royce, and that's like the image they want to project, right, yeah.
I think so. I mean, it'll be interesting to talk to Chris about that, but yeah, definitely to my mind. You know, Rolls Royce is ultimate luxury very They've got the magic carpet, right, it's all about smooth and silent, and Bentley does have more of the sporty background. Of course, remember the Bentley Blowers and the guy the Bentley Bentley Boys racing one hundred years ago. So yeah, that it seems like a natural fit at Bentley, and I think
Bentley can really occupy that space. They don't have to fight Rolls Royce on trying to get superior luxury. Bentley is a luxury brand, of course, but they can chip away more I think in the sporty world, the aggressive world, the world that might go up against Portsie or Aston Martin or Ferrari.
So well, we'll talk about that with Chris. And then speaking of Portia, I actually I wrote you a letter about my time in the boxter in the Cayman.
Was Dear Hannah.
Well, no, I actually wrote you a whole letter. I don't know why. The other day, I got home after I had been driving it and we had just spoken, and I thought, you know, I don't like, I don't really write car reviews per se, and but I want to tell Hannah all of this stuff. So I wrote like dear Hannah on my phone, and I like, by the time I was done, I was waiting in line for like the seafood guy at the grocery store, and I had written like a thousand words already, So I
was thinking, maybe I'll just shant Hanah this letter. Anyway, I'm gonna definitely post that up somewhere because I have so many thoughts about the Cayman and what it's like now versus what it used to be.
Now you had the GTS, correct, yes, not four leaders four which which might actually be the smarter buy for me.
It is right, I'm not a racetrack guy.
Yeah for most people.
Right. Well, I don't know my neighbor. You know, my buddy Eric, who has the bmw M four GTS. He likes a race car. He likes harsh suspension. You know, he wants to feel every pebble on the.
Road every day, well for every day I took.
I took out his car over the weekend and drove it for you know, forty five minutes, and that thing, my pulse like doubled instantly. I was like sweating, but I was also I was pushing. I was on the edge all the time. I was trying to break the tires free in turns. I was definitely looking out for cops like it. That car, that M four GTS, which is now it's a thing of the past, but it's like a race car and it makes you want to drive super fast all the time, whereas the Cayman the GTS four point zero.
It.
I like the sound when I put the gas down, so I do go faster in it. But it's not like I'm ripping it around corners hard, you know, right.
Right, It's it's livable, I guess is what you're you're saying.
Anyway, I was thinking I'm going to start a website. I don't know if the domain is available Dearhannah dot com, and then I'm just gonna start writing letters open letters to you and put it on the website, which will be.
That's a really good idea.
Yeah. The other thing is you're in Zurich, and I love Zurich. I spent many, you know, a decade of my life living in German speaking countries, and I would often go there for one reason or another. It's a great town for shopping.
I love it. Oh, I have been shopping. I have been, uh to the store that you recommended.
Is it vp e vmc vmc CMC.
So I went there this morning with my husband and we had a great time. We didn't buy anything. I actually saw I in a very weird I don't know, it must be something I've been drinking. But I saw some very cool men's lows loafers there that I really wanted to get.
I know, they had a lot of engineering engineer's boots and jeans.
I'm not into that. I want to I want this pair of like perfectly brown, crushed up men's loafers. They did not have my size, apparently they don't make women's sizes, And and we did see some other cool things that we didn't want to spend the money on. It's expensive. Zurich's an expensive city, true, but very cool store and very friendly. Uh. A lot of a lot of people
working in the shop. It was one of those situations where you're you're kind of the only one in there, and they're about twenty staff who are just kind of watching you.
And were they all dressed up in there, because it's kind of costume ish, you know, if they're wearing all that style.
I mean, it's more American than American, which is it's really funny because you know, you're walking around this europe this amazing European city, and then you go to the store and it's like it's more American than American. It's like Rob Lauren meets you know, Philson meets red Wing meets car cool. Very cool. Yeah, but I did buy some boots at another shop, which was great, and a few other little things. I really like it here. It's cool. It's cool.
I'm a big fan. Also, by the way, the top income tax rate is fifteen percent. That's the most the government will take from your income is fifteen percent, which to me, that seems like a very fair amount.
You know, yeah, well that could actually work because I've been told that apartment prices are pretty high here, so you know, I if I know that the tax, the tax, I may save money on the tax side of things.
No, you won't because you're American, So unlike other countries, we America will tax you no matter where you earn your money. So they're following you and they're going to get their share. So whatever, you know, whatever amount is above and beyond that fifteen percent that you owe to the US, you still have to pay to the US.
Yeah really, yeah? Is that how it was when you lived over here?
Well, I lived in Germany, so the German tax rate is even higher than the American tax rate, although you get services for it in Germany, and so I didn't have to end up paying any US income tax because of the double taxation treaty.
But okay, well that's good.
It's still to me, it seems it seems unfair to take forty percent of someone's income. But if you get free healthcare and you have great job security and you know childcare.
Yeah, well everything's clean. Everything. I can't believe. You know, all of the shops leave the watches and the jewels in the window overnight, you know, no gates pulled down. It's unbelievad. You would never see this even on rodeo drive. You know, they pull things out of the window and they close the gates and it's there's none of that. It's it's unblo It's like this little paradise. Yes, I was already planning my escape, pulling the rip cord and
relocating to Zurich. But we also went to this that very cool bar cronin Hall. Was it? Which awesome? Now I don't need to go again to the restaurant. We ate dinner there and the food was not great, but it's it's one hundred year old restaurant. Fun to see. But the bar's cool, quiet, tiny, lots of woods, lots of heavy green and leather, and it was cool. I like it my kind of place.
That sounds awesome. What about cars? Have you seen any?
No? Not, have not seen. That's the one thing have not seen. I saw one sort of late model Jag from like two thousand. That's the oldest car I've seen. I saw one SOB nine hundred and literally nothing else. Uh there I did see.
That's weird.
That's it.
I feel like, if it's a banking it's a banking capital. Like Europeans, how they.
Spend their money?
Yeah, maybe they take a lot of public transportation.
I also know some a lot of these European cities have regulations about bringing you know, historic cars into city limits because of the emissions. So it may be that they aren't allowed, which is too bad because there's there is nary a one I've I've walked around this town for three days and seen nothing.
Maybe they keep them in Germany because the other thing that Switzerland has is a speed limit. I don't think you're allowed to go faster than one hundred and thirty kilometers an hour on any of their highways, and of course as soon as it cross the border to the audience, and you can do that.
On the Bentley Drive, I was warned repeatedly to be careful about speeding and the speed cameras, and I mean really the road determined your speed anyway, because those roads are so tightly wound you never really end up going fast. But yeah, pretty cool.
All right, Well, I see Chris Brownbridge and his entrun really sam approaching, Yes, ideal? So all right, I'll go bring them into the studio and then we'll interview Chris. Why don't we start with just your background? How did you get into this, how did you grow up? What drives you to be in this world?
Well, if I think if you'd asked anyone who knows me from being a child, what would he do when he's older. I think the word car would have featured. I was always fascinated by things with four wheels. There are lots of photographs of me in my little Doune buggy or at car museums. And as a child, I grew up in Hong Kong and I remember just seeing the Rolls Royces there this is in the nineteen seventies
and eighties, and just being completely amazed by them. So I was fascinated by all things automotive, and I remember reading every car magazine because of course in those days there was no internet, so you got that week's magazine, a motor or autocar or car magazine to find out about what was happening. And I loved it. I always excited me. But I went to college and I studied economics, and when I left, I worked on a grad scheme for Rover Landrover Group, and I was based in Oxford,
and it kind of that's where it started. So it's been an amazing journey.
You went to Oxford, now I was.
I went to Exeter at university, but my first job was in Oxford where the where the mini is built today, and that was in the early nineties and I remember walking through the plant and just loving it. I've always had a fascination with manufacturing and seeing how cars are built because it's like ballet. It's like mechanical ballet, and I find the whole logistics side of it fascinating. So for me to do what I'm doing now is really it's a great responsibility, but it's also a fascination for me.
It's a genuine thrill.
That's really cool to hear you describe something in the car world or the car world as mechanical ballet. I have never heard that expression, but it does make sense. I can see that, Yeah, it's.
And this is looking at manufacturing in Oxford and so I've been in automotive now for thirty years and when I came to Goodwood, where the home of Rolls Rice is, it's completely different how they make the Moto cast there. It's a different sort of ballet.
It's more dance.
It's a different sort of dance. It's real craftsmanship. I was genuinely surprised in a very positive way about how much artistry and craftsmanship there is there, and that is one of my missions at Rolls Rice is to really show the talent of our people and the story of what really happens. I mean, many of our clients understand it, but I think there are many clients who may have seen it, and I think that's a real shame.
I was actually just going over some video of you know, Rolls Royce production and he was like, oh, I want to do this, you know, piece of a woman who's stitching the Starry Night headliner, and I was thinking, that's something you don't You wouldn't see it any other auto manufacturer, even the high end ones just won't have that much hand work being done.
No, I think what you see in Goodwood is special. There are genuine artists and crafts people at work. Just as a simple example, when you look at a manufacturing facility, the line would move every thirty seconds and the tasks performed are quite repetitive, and Rolls Rice it's more like thirty five minutes, and everyone who's working there has to be able to do thirty five minutes worth of work
on everything that we make. So it takes such a long time to train people to stay at Rolls Rice and to be able to perform what they do but things like the Starlight headliner, which are handmade, are quite remarkable. But there are so many stories like that, and that was one of the great thrills or journey of discovery that I had when I started just finding out about what really happens.
It's interesting to me because when we talk to you, and we talked to people at the factory, there really
is a genuine sense of pride in the craftsmanship. And you know, there are multiple generations of people who have worked with the company doing these really old world trades and handcrafts, and in a way, it's there's a lot of humble dignity to it, which is different than the perception that people might have of Rolls Royce, which is, you know, very expensive, very ostentatious, very just to top of the line. You know, it's the Rolls Royce of whatever.
So when you come into the company, obviously you've been at BMW for I think thirty years, how are you seeing that balance between what you know is true within the company of this very humble dignity and the perception which is that Rolls Royces are extremely expensive and unattainable.
I think the people that work at Rolls Royce have a great passion because they love what they do. Many of their roles are unique and they are very passionate about Rolls Royce and it is a great opportunity to have a role. Whatever you do as part of Rolls Royce, your role is to deliver perfection and of course that's something you strive for every day. And I'll give you
an example of how committed our employees are. The week before last I was really privileged to hand over awards to different employees for coming up with new ideas about how to make things better in our business. And last year, in the last twelve months, our employees of which we have twenty six hundred, came up with six thousand ideas about how we could improve how we produce our motor cars.
And that's quite incredible. That shows that the one they're fascinated by it, passionate about it, and the ideas were so varied, but they all showed one thing in common, which is a passion to really excel at Rolls Royce. And one of the things that last night I was at an event with some of our clients and they often come to the home of Rolls Royce and they meet the people that make the motor cars, and that gives our team such a thrill because they love to
see the appreciation of our clients. And I have to say, coming to Rolls Royce, one of the outstanding aspects of our business is that we strive to offer our clients the best possible experience and we interact with them daily, and that marks us out as real a house of luxury in terms of our clients talk to us, they talk directly to the people that make the cars, they talk to me, they talk to the design team, and that connection is something which our clients value greatly as well.
So not only do our employees enjoy it, but also it's something that our clients get an awful lot of pleasure from. Two.
It is just interesting though that I mean, it's another thing that separates I guess Rolls Royce employees from a typical car manufacture employee because working at BMW, anyone, even someone who's working on a line, could afford like to buy an M three right whereas I don't think you even have a Rolls Royce or do you have one.
I have the privilege of having a Rolls Royce to use.
But you don't have your own you didn't like already have a ghost to extended wheelbase before they hire deal.
No, that is something I would love to have and not but I understand the point that you're making. But everyone who works at Rolls Royce is contributing to delivering something quite extraordinary every day and that's where their pride comes from.
But it's like they're building a boat or a home, you know, it's different than someone who works on a car manufacturing line for the most part.
Yes, absolutely, I mean I think the best way of describing it is that every Rolls Royce is a masterpiece. It's a work of art and it's highly bespoke for an individual client and the client gets a lot of pleasure from that and we get a lot of pleasure in creating that for our clients as well. So there's a huge bond. There's a huge bond between our people and our clients and what we do. It's really quite special.
Chris, as the new guy coming in, where do you see the big growth opportunities for Rules Royce? I know it's astounding every time. You know, when I see the figure that the average age of your owner is like in the forties and the average price of a Rolls Royce is above five hundred thousand euros. Can these numbers continue to increase indefinitely? To your mind? And where's the growth coming from?
Sure? So one of the keys to our success is to one rarity. And secondly, everything we make is a bespoke luxury good for our clients. Not just what we make, but the experience that we deliver. Our mission is ready to create value for our clients and also value for our shareholder, which is the BMW Group, and we'll do that through creating these masterpieces. So we don't measure our success in terms of how many. It's more what we
do and what we achieve. And the trends that I'm seeing right now, our clients are really seeking more creativity and more connection with their Rolls Royce and more ambition in terms of how particular the car is for them. And that represents a great opportunity for creativity. And that's why we're opening our private offices, which we're just opening one in New York. And also it means that we have to change our business so that we've got more
space and capacity for those projects. But that's where I see our opportunity for me it's really exciting to close the gap between what people perceive Rolls Royce to be and what it really really is, and also to be able to deliver those ambitious and highly creative projects for
our clients. And there is really no limit to the possibilities, and that's quite thrilling when you think about it, And if you're someone who's got a real passion for all things automotive, it's quite a thrill to be leading that.
So for you're not going to make you're not going to obviously be making more. You're not after volume in terms of Rolls Royce. I guess you sell like six or seven thousand, and that's the that's the limit. But you're going to make more complicated or more creative and probably higher price tags on those Rolls Royces.
So in terms of the number that we make, we will only build a Rolls Royce if it's something that someone's asked us to build, and I think that's an absolute that underpins our success. Scarcity is very, very important.
But I'm sure you would have seen some of the wonderful projects the team have delivered in our coach build motor cars, where that's probably the most extreme it's a sort of hope coture of automotive where we'll work with a client over a period as much as four years to create a genuine masterpiece and they will be involved in the whole process from start to finish the design of the car at a very profound level. And those
projects are delivering something completely unique. It's a unique experience for our clients, it's a unique experience for our teams, and what we create is is almost a piece of history for Rolls Royce. So it's projects like that which I think are particularly fascinating for our business and certainly our goal will be to deliver more projects like that.
What is the policy when a potential client would like to build something or suspect something that isn't necessarily in good taste, that may even that may even you know, like not reflect well on Rolls Royce. You know, how do you how do you gently take them by the hand and suggest an alternative or and or do you ever just say no?
Sure, that's that's a great question. Ultimately, our business is client centric. We want to deliver a great experience for our clients in the whole process of engaging with Rolls Royce and also producing their motor car and the whole experience of being within what I call the Rolls Royce family and our clients tastes and preferences are very diverse. But of course what's suitable in one corner of the
globe is very different to what's suitable in another. And I have to say, in the time I've been at Rolls Royce and I try and walk down the line at least two or three times a week, everything I've seen is I find in thralling. So I can't imagine a situation where a client would want to build something that we wouldn't want to build. And whilst it can be very diverse, I think that's what makes it very exciting as well. No two Rolls Royces are the same and that will always be the case.
In terms of horsepower and torque, you know, this is something that everybody, every car maker, talks about when they come out with a product. Is it still a six point seventy five liter twelve cylinder engine?
That's right. So our combustion engine is a V twelve and it's a six point seventy five liter engine with two turbo chargers, and that delivers a very strong engine. With incredible smoothness, refinement, but also talk. But also this year we've launched our first Rolls Royce which is using an electric powertrain with Spector, and this has been a great success for us because the silence of electrification with the huge power and refinement really makes a Rolls Royce
even more like a Rolls Royce. And I was with some clients last night who have Specter and they were eulogizing about how thrilled they are about the way the car drives. And that excites me because as we move into different power trains, it shows for Rolls Royce, you know, we always have a perfect solution, which is great news for our clients.
How has it been rolling out Specter this year when you know EV sales across the board have puled slightly and it seems like every auto maker is pivoting a wave, pivoting away or readjusting targets related to evs. You know, how has that been for Rolls Royce And what is your commitment now to electrification moving forward? Sure?
Well, I'll start with our experience so far with Spector. So we launched the car this year and the level of demand has exceeded our expectations. What we know from our clients is that they are bowled over by the experience of the Rolls Royce Spector. It's a beautiful two door coupe, it has a drive train which is perfect for Rolls Royce, its performance is extraordinary, and also the motor car itself is extremely i would say, very beautiful
and rich, a great palette for bespoke. So in terms of our experience with our clients, it's been extremely positive and all of the media coverage has said this is a perfect Ross Rice and that fills me with confidence because as the world moves to electrification, it means that we can offer a perfect solution for a Ross Rice. Now, how the speed of that change happens, it may vary depending on the circumstances in the different corners of the world. But what I can see is that for Ross Rice
we have a great solution. It will always offer the right power train for our clients.
I don't want to ruin our relationship having just met, but for me, it won't be perfect if I have to charge it up right, because there's so many situations I've been in where I can't find a charger or it's not charging fast enough. As Hannah knows, I'm a huge fan of the hype.
We both been traumatized.
Yeah yeah, Whereas you know, if I had a Specter, you know, that's a half a million dollar car, So I guess I would have someone charger for me. But I would love to have a hybrid. Do you have any plans for a hybrid power train? The V twelve is excellent, but yeah, I guess you could add some boost with a battery.
Sure. I think with regards to charging, if we consider our clients, our clients typically have access to good charging solutions, and over time the charging network in different regions will mature as well, and so I think that's a barrier that will disappear. But what they are enjoying with Specter is the whole driving experience. So in terms of future powertrain options, what we'll never do is compromise for Ross Rice, And you know that's that's important to me that we
don't compromise. What I wouldn't want to do is put in place a powertrain which doesn't deliver the values that you'd expect for Rolls Rice.
How happy are you with the product mix at Rolls Royce? You know the Suv, the Sedans and the coup Is that a happy, happy product mixed for you? Or do you foresee any any new models being introduced?
Well, I would. I would be reticent to give away our future product plans, although I am very excited.
You can just tell us I don't worry.
That's an enticing option, but I'll avoid that.
Maybe in the television INTERVIEWEA, I'd save that. TV says I want to break news on my show and let's get into the cars that you.
Wait, wait, wait, don't what I'm off the hook. He's going to answer, Oh, you're going.
To tell us, of course, so if I One of the great things about Rolls Rice, one of the many great things is our manufacturing facility is completely flexible, so we can build whatever our clients want from us. And so you talked about am I happy with the mix of what we sell? Yes, I am, because it's what our clients want. But most recently we announced the series two of the Culin, which is a motorcar we launched
in twenty eighteen. And normally with a motor car, you launch it, it grows and then over time that the demand drops. But with Cullen and it's grown every year, and it shows that this is a motor car that our clients really love because it's a real Rolls Royce, but also it's a Rolls Royce they can use every day. And so that's our most demanded product. But in terms of our other models that there's there's a pretty even demand
across the range. But as I say, we can respond to any condition and that's one.
Of our well and that's what I want to kind of focus on. Is the new private office that you've opened to here in New Yusk, Yes, because this gives you the ability to go deeper than even you would and say like a bespoke showroom. Sure, right, you can actually spend time working with clients who have I don't want to say demands, but needs that go beyond where typical manufacturer requirements a typical manufacturer can. So this is going to allow you to really do some serious customization.
Is that right?
Absolutely. What we've seen in the last few years is the level of demand from our clients for increasingly complicated and personal commissions is accelerating rapidly. And in order to do that, our dealer network do a fantastic job with our clients. But for some of our clients they need more than that, and so our dealers can work with our private office network, of which we're just opening one in New York and we'll open one in Seoul later this year. We already have Shanghai in Dubai, and there's
one in Goodwood. And this is where a client can spend time with a member of the design team, so someone who can really find stretch the possibilities or break the rules, as I would say. And we know that this is an area where our clients really are fascinated and the opportunity to talk directly to the design team really opens up lots of new possibilities for them. But of course not every client can come to Goodwood. So what we thought we would do is bring Goodwood to
New York. So we've effectively brought a little bit of the Rolls Royce home to a place where we know a lot of our clients are. So that's why we have the private office in New York, which we literally opening as we speak.
You mentioned New York, Goodwood, saw and I think there was Dubai. Is it fair to assess that those are your biggest markets?
And Shanghai did you see Shanghai as well.
That's right, that's right. And so what we've done is we've opened these private offices. So we have a network of private offices, and we've opened them where there's a real concentration of our clients. And of course even in New York for some of our clients that's a drive or a short flight, but it's a lot easier to access,
perhaps than Goodwood. But I think what we want to do is make sure that we can be close to our clients but also create a space where they can feel at home and really spend time exploring the possibilities of a bespoke Rolls Royce because the whole experience of going through that is something not to rush, because the
possibilities are extraordinary. And that's why you may well have seen at the Quail this year we revealed a very special private collection car, and we produce these cars from time to time to showcase possibilities of bespoke, to show techniques or innovate new techniques. And typically these motor cars are they're sold before we talk about them, but that's
not really the purpose. The purpose is really to inspire our clients as to what they could do for themselves and often they stimulate discussions and that's what these private offices are designed for.
And these cars are seven figure cars, correct, what's.
The most expensive one? I'll ask the vulgar question.
Yeah, vulgar question. Well, as you will know, we never talk about the price of things, but obviously there are prices reported in the media. But for our clients, it's the experience and the uniqueness which they're fascinated by, and that's what we strive to be able to exceed their expectations on.
He didn't say no. He didn't say no, I.
Didn't say yes.
Well, here's okay, So here's my follow up, two follow ups, And I don't know how we're doing with time, but I'm just going to dive in. How often are the people when they're creating these cars over two and three and four years. I have to imagine they're changing their minds all the time because everything changes in a month.
So are you? Are you? Is it the type of thing where the longer you spend on a project, the longer it's going to take, simply because as time passes, people change what they want.
Typically in these projects, the decisions do take quite a long time, and our clients are particularly discerning. I'll give an example. There was one client who he knew exactly what he wanted in terms of the color and the finish of the car, but in terms of the particular type of wood and the color of the woods on a large panel within the car. He lived with samples of wood in his office for six months before he said that's the one I want. And that's the joy
of the process. It's a real profound and deep engagement with our clients and what comes out at the end of the process is something which is truly unique for them. It really is a work of art, and so it's not something we'd ever want to rush our clients on, but it's a collaborative process.
Could you choose various hides. I'm a big fan of horse hide, which was common in the early twentieth century but no longer. Still I have jackets and boots made with it all the time. You have a famous leather supplier in Scotland, right, I think Hannah has written a piece about it, sure where, but that's cow leather, right. Could I say, listen, I want a horse hide interior.
Well, I'm delighted to say that If that's what you wanted to have, we could discuss it, and I'm sure we could come up with a perfect project for you. In the history of Rolls Royce and what we produced today,
the limits that there are no limits. So there are so many wonderful examples of where a client has come to us and said I want to have a motor car that celebrates this topic or something as a gift for my family or and our teams will then want to meet the client and talk to you, Matt, about your preference for a particular type of leather and then
come up with different creative ideas. When I started at Rolls Royce, as part of my induction, I was going through the bespoke area and the team we're learning a particular technique using a very specialized type of guilt paint, and I asked them, what are you doing? Why is this a commission? They said, no, it's not a commission. But a client has asked about They've given us a brief and we think if we could learn to do this,
we could do something really spectacular for them. And so the people that are involved in actually creating the motor car are involved in the design process as well, and I think that's really rather lovely. So in answer to your question, when you're ready to talk, we've got a wonderful private office in the meatpacking district and we would love to invite you there and we can talk about your special leather.
Can anybody go just walk into the private office or do you have to make an appointment or do you have to like hope not.
The private office is something that is in place that we offer our dealers to work with our clients to bring them there. So when one of our dealers as a client who's got a he knows has a more demanding commission, that's where that's how that engagement went.
Not a showroom. You're not gonna have cars in the window.
And no, we already have an amazing network of partners who've got fantastic facilities, and they already are able to work with our clients to put together their perfect Rolls Royces. But as I said, what we're finding is that more and more frequently clients are wanting to elevate that beyond the classical specification of a Rolls Royce. And that's when the dealer would work with us with the private office. Effectively,
it's like a creative accelerator. It's like an outposting of Goodwood where we can really collaborate with the client to create exactly what they want.
Now, can we talk about other cars? I have one more question relating Okay, Hannah's always breaking the news here.
Okay, I feel like, yeah, let's hear it.
Okay, my other question, and you know, I've been talking with other automakers talking about the upcoming election, and not just in the US. You know, India's got an election coming up. There are a lot of countries that have within the next year or two big elections. How closely are your clients watching the US election and possibly, you know, waiting to see how it goes before they decide to
put money down on a car. You know, are your clients really taking into account this uncertainty or does it not necessarily affect their buying thought process?
Well, that's a great question, and it's one that I can't really answer it because I mean, every client is so different and I'm sure they'll have different considerations. But certainly, what we're seeing right now, particularly in North America, is that there's a really strong demand for Rolls Royce and also there's a strengthening demand for these bespoke projects. So based on what I can see, I don't see any holding off. But it's very hard for me to tell.
I was just going to say, you know, money aside, it's an appearance thing, it's a tone thing, you know. Sure, My sense too is maybe people think, well, it wouldn't be correct for me to be seen purchasing this new lovely vehicle potentially in an unstable or uncertain time.
I guess from our perspective in terms of the demand that we're seeing, it's matching our expectations. So we're not seeing any clear evidence of that. And going back to your question about China, what we're seeing in the environment in China is tougher at the moment. Although Ross Royce is a business which it's a global it's a very famous brand and we have clients all over the world and there's always there's ups and downs and all re
of the world. And the great news is our business is very evenly spread, so we're feeling very resilient at the moment and our business is in a very strong position. So you know, we see China as a strategically important region for us, and you know, we'll continue to invest there. We've opened a private office there and we're seeing some fantastic commissions coming through our clients as well some really
very creative requests. So yeah, I think that, As I say, there were always ups and downs, but that's the beauty of the Rolls Royce businesses, and we respond to our clients their demand and also with our amazing flexible production facility.
You can't tell us about the weirdest request you've gotten, Kenny.
I can't. I can't think of a weird request.
But as no one ever said, like I want leopard skin on the seeds.
It's not unusual for a client to say, look, I want you to match the color of my dog's eyes, or here's a piece of clothing. I want the car to be this color. And that's the wonderful thing. That's what really excites our team is that these requests, but being able to not only meet the expectation of the client, but also exceed it. That's what really thrills us. And based on the feedback that I've had the privilege of receiving from our clients, we do it every day.
Everybody always gets one or two colors on the exterior. Have you ever had anyone say I want you to paint like Michaelangelo's whatever on the exterior of the car.
We've had and we have delivered the most extraordinary commissions for our clients, not just different colors, but different finishes or examples of cars which depict imagery. And there's no limit to the possibilities of our exterior surface team. They can do anything, and that's amazing. You see the most fabulous creations coming down our production line in Goodwood.
We kind of done this backwards because I want to go back to your experience in college and you mentioned Mini's and what you started to drive, and then you've what you've got to drive at BMW. Imagine you've had some awesome cars.
Yes, as I said, As I said, I've always loved cars from an early age.
You know.
My first car was a Mini which I bought, which had holes in the floor and I restored it and.
I've all an original Mini.
Yeah, it was a nineteen seventy eight Mini. It was two hundred and fifty pounds. It was a magnificent It was well, it was black, but it became red with the white roof. Of course, but I've always loved motor cars, and I've had the privilege in the many roles I've had of driving all sorts of them, and I have a real passion for them, whether they're old or new. You know, I enjoy Rolls Royce's. I love the heritage
of Rolls Royce. The other weekend I was at the Goodwood Revival, which is a wonderful event, and I had the experience of going around in the course car, which was a nineteen sixty one Silver Cloud marked to open top, four door saloon and it was the most beautiful motor car. And it's cars like that that I just I just love the craftsmanship and the storytelling and the design behind them. So yeah, I've always had a great passion.
For Hannah has a couple of Rolls Royces.
Yes, I know, I know some fabulous cars.
How's it. I've got a couple, and I've got my eye on a couple more. It's really starting to be a sickness because I already I love them. I think they're so they make you feel like a million bucks.
Yeah, I think there's the experience of riding in a Rolls Royce is it makes the journey the event itself. And that's what makes them.
Which ones do you have, Hannah? I have Magne Silver.
I well, I personally have a Silver Shadow nineteen seventy five long wheelbase in olive green, and then Magnus as a two door Shadow Coop nineteen sixty nine park war Pot war Lovely exactly. And then we just got a Silver Spur which is the long wheelbase two of the Silver Spirit. I believe you have Spirit, I remember and eighty five. So that's the current that's the current match. And then of course we have our eye on some Camargs and you know a couple other random ones.
I like that.
I like the beautiful cars and that's the wonderful thing that there's such great heritage with Rolls Royce from the very early cars through to the more modern cars. For me, the two door Phantom Coupe, I think that's an absolutely beautiful car. So yeah, I mean that, and that's another thrill for me. So whilst this is a business and our job is to create value for our clients and our shareholder and be consistent with the Rolls Royce brand,
it's a passion for me as well. I absolutely love working at Rolls Rice and with working with the people that I work with.
You know, I've always I've always wanted to buy a Bentley from kind of the Rolls Royce era, and or I'd be happy also with the Rolls Royce in the same era. I'm worried about the maintenance costs, right, Hannah always tells me not to worry about it. You haven't any right, no, real, No, you never had a twenty five thousand dollars surprise.
Knock on wood. No. I mean, look there there's that famous saying there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Rolls Royce, and that's probably not without some truth behind it. But knock on Wood, I drive mine almost every day to the office.
I think it's time. I think it's time, And so why didn't you do that now? And then come to the private office and we can talk about the Horsehall leather and we can you.
Know, a new one. I'm talking about getting a Commard that's more mine, that's more my speed. All right, let's get to BMW's because you must have had some awesome cars from that experience. And I know a lot of guys who weren't there, and they are car nuts, and a lot of them motorcyclists as well. So what have been your favorite other brand of cars that you've that you've had the privilege to drive.
Well, I've had the real privilege of driving pretty much everything. And in previous life, you know, I was working in product strategy for BMW. That was another great time in my career where it's just fascinating when you're involved in a product project. And that's what I love about my role today and rolls Roy last week I was in the design studio working on the design of a future car, and then I'm working on the plant extension and then I'm working on the interior with the team, and it's
just it's just so fascinating. So could I name a particular car, No, But what I can say is the cars that I remember are those that give you the experience that is special. So it's how it drives or how it makes you feel when you drive it. You know, in my garage at home, I have a nineteen fifties MGA, which is just a beautiful design and when you drive it, it's just a wonderful thing. And also the reaction you get when you drive a motorcar like that is great.
And so there isn't one that stands out, probably because there are so many standout moments. But for me, it's the experience, the experience of the different cars of different eras.
We're not going to get into talk about like a three point oher CSL or or the cars.
Well, I mean I've driven them all and had them all, and they're just fantastic cars. I remember, you know, when I was, when I was how old was I maybe maybe twenty eight? I had my company car was an E forty six M three.
Manual love it, you know, and I love it.
I mean, you know you look back and think, God, that was that was I mean, the car was cool.
Maybe it's the best generation. Well it was a.
Wonderful you know, individual throttle, butterflies, fantastic engine and it was just what's wonderful? And you know, my favorite car in my previous job was always an M five Competition because that was the everything car. It was, it was your, it was it was a family car. It was it was thrilling to drive and it did everything. And you know, so yeah, as I say, I can love anything with four wheels, as missus brown Ridge will tell you.
And I don't hear you saying it has to have a manual transmission.
Well, it depends on that anything. Yeah, it depends on the motor car. I think that for me, the ground other experience of a manual transmission, if it particularly was a sporting car, it really suits it. But for example, the Silver Cloud too that I went round the Goodwood circuit on recently, that I could not believe the silky smoothness. The engine was silent and the gearbox was so smooth.
It really was remarkable. Maybe we'll go back to the internet and spend far too log looking to think, oh, maybe I could fit one of those in my garage, because they have such magnificent things. It's the engineering that also fascinates me, how well those things were done, and the design details, like the rear windows of that car, because it's a convertible but with the four doors, when the glass goes down, it actually folds forwards into the door. It's just so when you see it happen for the
first time, it really surprises you. So it's all those small details that I love.
By the way, so I've always loved the ghost As I said, I drove on a tourist in twenty fourteen and was my favorite car for I mean, it is still probably my favorite car of all time in Is it possible if I came down to the Private Office and I said, I'll give you guys a million bucks if you'll put a manual transmission in this car. Is that kind of thing even possible or is that going too far?
Well, well, nothing's ever going too far. No one's ever asked that question either. I don't know what crazy I think if you think about the typical Rolls Royce experience, a manual transmission, maybe something which is quite unusual. But so I don't know whether we we we would do that. But when do we have our appointment we can discuss it.
Okay, all right, I'm going to go down there, all right, Chris, great spending some time with you. Thanks so much for joining us so much.
Oh it's great. Great to see you too as well.
All right, So that was Chris Brownridge, very very on brand. Did you notice that I was trying to get him to talk about other brands and he was like, well, very focused.
Yeah, yeah, he knows his duty.
Which is how it's supposed to be. I'm actually going to go down to the check out the Private office tomorrow because they have like an event.
Oh good, well, we're going to want a full report when you get back.
I'll be ordering a car obviously.
Well that's what you say. Now.
By the way, we had some really good emails, so I want to go through a couple of them. If you want to write to us, you can email us at a hot Pursuit at Bloomberg dot net. And many people do.
Yeah, And we do see and read and respond to your emails as best we can.
Well, and we had one guy who wrote in and was talking about some of the cool cars that he's had throughout his life. He had had Rolls Royce Bentley to cloud conversion, which I think is fascinating.
I've been in the mountains, I haven't you haven't checked it. Email a few days.
He had some awesome cars, So starting with nineteen seventy two Camaro SS three fifty, which already like you had me at Camaro. And then he had a Rolls Royce, a Bentley to Cloud conversion shipped over from England. He had a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow. He had a BMW two thousand and two. My dad had a two thousand and two. A couple of Thunderbirds, Mustang California Convertible, a VW Camper, a few Pooh shows. Anyway, he's now he's
looking for a new Also, he's a dead head. So I feel like I really have to do something for this guy.
This is a very eclectic person.
He wants a car that he can drive around the California highways without worrying about stuff, and he's interested in the super crew's functionality that Cadillac has. And I happen to be driving as as we mentioned last week, a CT five Premium Luxury, which I'm going to pick up this evening at your service, and so I'm gonna drive it around and report back to Andrew who wrote in and a thank you for your email. B You've had some amazing cars, and see, I can't wait to do this little deed for you.
You just here. We're here to serve.
We do what we can, right Yeah. So that one. The other thing is I got an email, by the way, Polaris invited me to the Baja one thousand to embed with the Polaris Factory racing team and get an inside look at the preparation it takes to compete.
That would be very fun for you.
That would be bucket list, right, I've never been to one of those big races.
I think you've got to get out of this whole TV commitment thing. I think it's really putting a it's really on your car life. Because this whole TV side job that you have, I don't know why you even bother. Yeah, that's the putting on your travel schedule.
I can't leave the studio. Also, I can't leave my wife at home with these two new babies.
Like, yeah, I hope really that she gets a trip by herself, like.
She sent her. I should send her to the Baja one thousand.
Does she want to do that?
I don't think so. Maybe she's a huge fan. No, No, if I told her she could go to the Moto GP, she would be out.
He may like to go to the Rebel Rally, which is the you know, ten day rally through Death Valley. That's also a great one coming up in October.
All right, I'll ask her about that. We got an email from somebody who was listening about the clips. So clips is the sound system that was in the Infinity QXAD that I was amazing love. It was very good and I expected no less because when I was a kid, my friend his dad had these Clipsch reference speakers that were insane. Someone wrote and I cause, I guess I said it was a German company. I assume clipsch KLi psch. He says, no, it's an American company founded in Hope, Arkansas.
The founder was Paul Clips. Paul W. Clips.
Okay, okay, well duly noted and thank you, thank you for the email. This is great to know.
Yeah, the email address is hot Pursuit at Bloomberg dot net. Shoot us an email and will a lot. I get a lot of emails, Hannah that are like bat links, like, hey, check out this auction.
Is that why you send me that terrible one today? Yes, before you pass it on from something somebody else, I'd sin, yeah, because I like what I mean. It's it's I'm trying to enjoy a quiet cocktail and a lovely James Bond style Zuric bar, and I'm getting a text about something on bring a trailer, and I'm like, what is this?
It's a Factory five Mark four Cobra that's been converted to electric, which is already I feel like it's a sin, but everybody in the comments is saying like this is what cobras are all about, lightweight and high performance. But also it has a five speed tremic. I don't understand how that works. Like I would definitely want somebody email me if you know how an electric converted car works through a five speed tremic manual transmission. Please explain how that's going to work.
Can you see my eye won't go up anymore? Yeah, they are for house skeptical. I am.
It sounds pretty bad, but I'm glad it's a manual.
But we love the links. I mean, thanks for letting us know.
Yes, we love the link. And Peter, by the way, regular listener messaged just about a Volvo Wagon, huge fan. That was my first car ever in nineteen eighty four, baby blue Volvo to forty d L. But this wagon is a manual with one hundred and seventy thousand miles and it's sold for twenty grand.
That's a pretty high provov a manual Volvo Wagon.
A nineteen ninety two to forty wagon.
Yeah, for twenty grand. On bring a trailer.
It looks nice.
I mean, it's actually more than I would have anticipated.
Yeah, me too, me too, it's it's I think a hot car. The wheels, it looks like it has bbs rims.
If I would have used the word hot to describe a Volva wagon. But know, some people like dad bods, some people like Wolba wagons. Start. I mean, I'm not gonna I'm not gonna come down on your kink at all.
Wow. All right, So definitely shoot us an email if you have any ideas or if you want to point out any interesting vehicles. Hannah, what are your plans now? Are you going to stay in Zurich? Are you not coming back?
I'm not coming back. I'm sending for the dog and I'll be residing here now by the lake. Actually, i'll be back in La on Thursday. I did take a couple days off of off for a little little holiday since i've been here, so I'll be back in La grinding away on Thursday. And yeah, I think I've got some cars coming up that we can talk about to drive. But yeah, I'm getting on a plane tomorrow.
What about you, Well, I have my brother's bachelor party this weekend, so I'll be driving the Cadillac up there, which is a good reason for me to use super crews because we're gonna go up to the Gunks in New Paultz. We're going to do some climbing for a day. Then we're going to go out to dinner rock climbing. Yeah, rock climbing, okay, but bachelor party style rock climbing. Uh, dinner for dinner for the boys in Rhinebeck. And then we're going to go shooting at Sandanona, which is the
oldest shooting preserve in America in Millbrook, New York. Wow, that'll be fun, a good sporting bachelor party with.
How many of you are going?
Five guys?
Okay, that's cool. That's a small group. It's manageable. Yeah, we hope you come back in one piece.
So I guess that's it then for us today.
Huh. Fun, that was a good one.
I'm glad you got me the great guests for my show tomorrow and we were able to. Now we're going to go down and buy.
A Rolls Royce, so can't wait to see what you pick out.
Join us again, same time, same place next week. I'm Matt Miller and
I'm Hannah Elliott, and this is Bloomberg